Isaac bales



(No Model.)

I. BALES.

METAL ROOFING SEAMER.

No. 449,725. Patented Apr. 7, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC BALES, COLUMBIA CITY, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN F. LAWVRENOE, OF SAME PLACE.

METAL-ROOFING SEAM ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.449,725, dated April '7, 1891.

Application filed June 21,1890. Serial No. 356,293. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ISAAC BALEs, of the city of Columbia Oity,in the county of \Vhitley and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Metal-Roofing Seamers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to improvements in sheet-metal-roofing seamers; and the principal objects of my invention are, first, to provide a roof-seamer of an improved form and economical operation; second, to provide a seamer in the use of which the ordinary foottreadle is not required,and, third, to provide a practical metal-roof seamer ,by the use of which the folds of the seams in sheet-metal roofs may be readily formed and completed by the seamer itself without the necessity of using treadles, set-screws, mallets, or other tools, thus saving much time and labor and avoiding the danger of falling from steep roofs to which workmen are exposed when forming the roof-seams in the usual manner and with ordinary tools.

I attain the foregoing and other cognate objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 IS a general view in perspective showing the operative parts of the invention with about one-half the lateral extension of the clamps and wings cut away to give an unobstructed view of the implement as applied and used in folding the seams. Fig. 2 represents two sheets of metal on the roof as they appear just before the seainers are closed thereon to form the first fold of a seam; Fig. '3 is an enlarged sectional view of portions of Fig. 1.

In the drawings similar letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

A and Brepresent the handles or levers of the implement, connected in the usual manner, as at O. Firmly affixed to or integrally formed with jaw A is the main clamp 2, and similarly attached to or formed with jaw B is the secondary clamp 6. To one side of clamp 2 is hinged the wing 3, and to the other side is hinged in a similar manner the wing 9. These two wings and the two clamps are all of equal lengths, and the jaws connect with the clamps at or near the centers of the longest sides thereof. The wings are strongly and securely hinged to opposite sides of clamp 2, and all parts of the levers, jaws, and clamps are made in a durable manner and fitted to operate as closely and rigidly as desired.

The spiral spring 13 is suitably fastened, as at 4, to the projection D, which is attached to wing 3, near the middle thereof, as shown, and from thence it extends and is attached to jaw A as at 18. At all times when the jaws are sufficiently opened to withdraw cam 5 from engagement with projection D the tension of said springs draws and holds wing 3 against stop 15, attached to clamp 2, and up to a perpendicular position with reference to the plane of the inner surface of clamp 2. Said projection D is adapted to engage with the cam 5, carried by jaw B and the inclined plane or edge 16 of said cam is also adapted to engage with said projection as the jaws of the implement are being closed, and thus press Wing 3 away from contact with stop 15 and downward from its perpendicular position and turning it on its hinges toward and partly overlapping clamp 6, and thereby at the same time bending the upper edge or flange 14 of the roofing sheet of metal7 over the edge 17 of roofing-sheet 8 and beyond a right angle to the plane of the inner surface of clamp 2, and thus leaving said edge or flange 14.- bent at such an inclination inward toward the edge 17 of sheet 8 that when the jaws are opened and the clamps are removed the edge or flange 14 is easily and quickly closed against roof-sheet 8 between the wing 9 and clamp 2, and thus the first fold of the seam is completed Without requiring the use of treadles, set-screws, Inallets, or other similar implements.

The rigid bar 12 has one end joint-ed to the inner portion of lever B, as at 19, and the other end to the short arm 10, extending outward from its firm connection, as at 20, with wing 9, which is opened to about a right angle with the plane of the outer surface of clamp 2, when the jaws and clamps are closed, as shown. I

The two metal sheets 7 and 8, Fig. 2, are attached to the sheathing S of the roof in the usual manner, with the flange ll of sheet "2' rising about one-fourth of an inch above the edge 17 of sheet 8. lVhen my improved seamer is first applied to form the first fold of the seam and when the two clamps and wing 3 are brought in contact with the two sheets of metal, the relative positions of said clamps, wing, and sheets are as shown in Fig. 2, the clamps being separated by the adjoining parallel portions ll and 17 of the two sheets, and also by the entire width of wing 3, as shown; but when the jawsand clamps are closed the various parts assume the positions indicated in Fig. 1, with the clamps grasping and pressing together the upturned flanges 14: and 17, and wing 3, actuated by cam 5, engaging with projections D, pressing and bending the flange ll: of sheet 7 down beyond a right angle and partly overlapping the upper edge of flange 17 and the upper edge of clamp U, as illustrated. Then to finish the first fold of the scam the clamps are removed and turned around and the partly-formed sea-m grasped between wing 9 and the outer or lower surface of clamp 2 and readily pressed to completion by spreading the levers, and thereby forcibly closing wing 9 on the seam by means of the connection of said wing with lever B through arm 10 and rigid bar 10, as shown. The second fold ofthe seam is formed in the samemanner with another pair of my improved seamers constructed on the same plan, but having narrower clamps and more space between clamp 6 and wing 3 for bending the sheet metal.

An essential feature of my invention is the bending of the flange edge ll of the metal sheet 7 beyond a right angle to its own line and to the plane of the inner surface of the main clamp 2 by the combined use of the two clamps and wing and the operative parts connected therewith, the object and effect of such bending being to leave said flange edge so inclined as to form a 'iartly-closed seam, which when grasped between wing 0 and clamp 2 is readily folded closely down without the trouble of hammering or the uncertaintyincident to closing a scam in which the sheet is not originally bent beyond a right angle, as herein set forth.

My improved seamcrs may be made of any suitable material and of such size, weight, and proportions as may be desired without conflicting or interfering with the general plan of its construction and operation.

I am aware that roof-seamers have been made with which the seams in metal roofs have been formed by the use of clamps operated by handlevcrs or handles as well as by foot-treadles and set-screws, and I do not claim the broad idea of such an invention; but

\Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to soon re by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The herein-described means forinitially bending a sheet of metal roofing beyond a right angle preparatory to closing down and forming a completed seam by subsequent manipulation, consisting, essentially, of the main clamp affixed to or integrally formed with the jaw A the secondary clamp aflixed to or integrally formed with the jaw B the movable wing hinged to the inner surface of said main clamp, the stop attached to said main clamp, and against which said wing may be held in a position perpendicular to the plane of the inner surface of said clamp, the spring adapted to normally hold said wing up against the stop when the implement is open, the pro jcction on said movable wing adapted to engage with the cam carried by the jaw 1'3 and the cam carried by said jaw and adapted to engage with the projection on the movable wing when the jaws and clamps are being closed and press the said wing away from the stop and against the edge of the sheet of roofing metal, and thereby bend it beyond a right angle, all constructed and combined substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described means for closing down and completing the seam afterthe edge of the sheet of rooting metal has been bent beyond a right angle, as set forth,consisting, essentially, of the main clamp aflixed to or integrally formed with the jaw A the wing 9, hinged to the outer surface of said clamp and adapted for grasping the partly-formed scam and pressing it to completion between said wing and the outer or lower surface of said clamp, the arm 10, attached to said wing, the rigid bar jointed to said arm and through it forming a connection with said wing, and the lever 13, having the rigid bar pivoted thereto as a means of actuating said wing by opening or closing the levers of the implement, all constructed and combined substantially as set forth.

The combination of the main clamp actuated by lever A,thc secondary clamp actuated by lever 13, and the wing 3, actuated by cam 5,pressing against the projection on said wing, and thereby forcing said wing against the edge of the sheet of metal and bending itbeyond a right angle, substantially as and for 1x5 the purpose specified.

ISAAC BALES. ll itncsses:

O. 1 II. We onw ol-rrni, Era. K. Simone. 

